Libraries Without Borders US
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Digital Inclusion week 2021: Our digital equity efforts
by Katherine Karmen Trujillo
At Libraries Without Borders US, digital inclusion is a cornerstone of everything we do. From creating pop-up libraries inside laundromats to transforming storm shelters into community centers, we re-imagine spaces and develop programs to promote access to information, knowledge, and culture for all. In today’s highly digitized world, our mission is inextricably linked to digital inclusion efforts, which seek to ensure that all people have access to the internet, digital literacy skills, and devices.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fault lines of technology access and digital skills have been laid bare. As social distancing became the new normal, our society was forced to take stock not just of our intense reliance on technology, but also on the myriad of challenges faced by those who lack the skills, devices, or connectivity needed to shift one’s entire life online. Today, few people with a reliable high-speed internet connection and solid digital literacy skills take these facts for granted.
LWB US, like many other nonprofit organizations in the education and information technology sectors, kicked into overdrive in response to the global pandemic. Since we could no longer encourage people to gather at their local laundromat or other public spaces to access information and other critical resources, we pivoted to a new strategy for meeting people where they are. Through the ConnectED Tech Kit program, we distributed backpacks equipped with laptops, mobile hotspots, a year of internet services, and curated local resources to low-income families and individuals via laundromats, community gardens, churches, food banks, and civic centers. By the end of 2022, LWB US had distributed hundreds of ConnectED Tech Kits to people in Baltimore, San Antonio, Detroit, and Puerto Rico.
As Digital Inclusion Week 2021 comes to a close, LWB US remains hopeful about the future. Amid the tremendous collective loss ushered by COVID-19, we also witnessed (and were part of) a concerted movement to address the needs of underserved communities living on the wrong side of the digital divide. Though far from achieving digital equity, today we are much closer to a world in which all individuals have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy — from civic and cultural life, to employment and healthcare or lifelong learning opportunities.
Katherine Trujillo is LWB US’ Deputy Director and can be reached at kat@librarieswithoutborders.us. For more information on upcoming programming and services, follow us on social media below.